Template:Ratings Template:Ship The Phoenix-class Colony Ship is a ship classification within the United Nations Space Command. The Phoenix-class starship, among others, are often modified into warships such as the UNSC Spirit of Fire, which is a modified Phoenix converted for wartime-use towards the newly encountered Covenant alien alliance. It is speculated that the refitted ships, based on the Halo Wars trailer and demo, carry vehicles, troops, and supplies. It also carries the resources necessary to build bases. It will be the main ship in Halo Wars.
The UNSC Skidbladnir was the Phoenix-class Colony Ship which colonized Harvest[1].
Function
The Phoenix-class may have up to 25 hangarsTemplate:Fact and is 2.5 km long[2], making it one of the largest known UNSC ships in the organization's naval history.
The Phoenix-class ships are designed to transport thousands of colonists from Earth, or one of the other Inner Colonies, as well as terraforming equipment to alter the existing atmosphere and/or biosphere to become compatible with human habitation. Once the terraforming is completed, the colonists settle the planet. On at least one instance, the colony ship was decommissioned and became the central power source for the first settlement on Harvest, Utgard, its fusion reactor powering the city and its data processing storage housing the Agricultural Operations AI, Mack. The ship's AI, Loki, became the Planetary Security Intelligence, sharing a core with Mack, covertly monitoring the colony for trouble for the UNSC.[3] Whether this process is common during the colonization of other worlds is unknown.
Once converted, a Phoenix-class ship can become an extremely effective troop transport and orbital support ship, carrying thousands of Marines, significant supplies and equipment, and using a Magnetic Accelerator Cannon fitted to it during conversion to attack ground targets from orbit in support of ground operations. It can also use Pelican and Albatross dropships and Pods to deploy ground forces and establish bases of operation. It is even able to participate in atmosphere to a degree.[4]